Former government minister Richard Frederick has taken the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) to task for their candidate selection process, stating that the Opposition is “playing into Chastanet’s hands.” Frederick is of the view that the next general election —constitutionally due by mid next year— is one of the most important in Saint Lucia’s history. He warns that the party which suffers defeat will remain in “political darkness” for at least a decade.
“Labour party, I want to speak to you guys directly,” said Frederick on his television show on Thursday. “Elections may be closer than you guys think. And to be quite candid, your maneuvers are going the way of Chastanet’s desires. You are playing into Chastanet’s hands! I can tell you that Chastanet’s camp is pleased with the way that the Labour Party is operating and their candidate selection.”
Speaking on candidate selection, Frederick said he has always maintained that the choice of a candidate should never be left up to the few members of a party’s executive. Instead, the decision should lie with the majority of constituents.
The staunch Allen Chastanet critic went on to state that a political party exists to win elections. Winning, he stressed, is everything. “The transition from being a political party to being a government is winning! Winning is everything! And if a political party has no intentions of winning, you might as well just fold up,” Frederick noted. He advised that a party needs to ask itself which prospective candidate is a winner: “Not ‘my choice is that one, or my choice is that one’…no! Put your personal choices in your pocket and ask who is a winner! And once you can choose a winning candidate, you are on the right track.”
The talk show host shifted gears to Castries Central— a constituency he represented from 2006-2016. The last time the SLP won the seat was in 2001 with Sarah Flood-Beaubrun. Accusing Flood-Beaubrun of abandoning the constituency for 10 years after her tenure, he highlighted that she was still able to reemerge in 2016, and in two weeks, defeat the SLP’s Stanley Felix. (Felix was also unsuccessful at the 2011 election). Frederick further advised: “So the Labour Party… you cannot be playing the same team and expect different results.”
Declaring that the upcoming election is an important one, he went on: “So much so, that whichever party loses the next general elections, they will remain in political darkness for a good while.” The talk show host told both political parties to expect to give the other at least 10 years in government if they lose. Frederick based his prediction on the expected completion of key projects in the next term. He says that irrespective of who started these projects, Saint Lucians will thank the incumbent party at the ballot boxes, and that party will spend two consecutive terms in office. Therefore, the upcoming election cannot be gambled.
“If elections were a cake, the Labour Party had the entire cake on a platter. They had the entire cake on a platter in their hands. But as far as I see, slices are being taken away from that cake in the hands of the Labour Party, and the size of the cake is slowly diminishing until that cake may just disappear,” he warned, calling on the party to wake up.
Frederick plans to contest his old seat at the next elections but it remains unclear if he will do so on an SLP ticket or as an independent. However the former MP remains confident that he will be returning to Parliament: “As far as Castries Central is concerned, I will win Castries Central. I will win Castries Central!”
Asked about the constituency during an appearance on Blazin FM this week, opposition leader Philip J. Pierre, stated: “The Labour Party has, in Central Castries, 4 candidates who are vying and I hear there are two more that sending their letters.”
In addition to their 6 parliamentarians, the SLP has endorsed the following candidates:
Joachim Henry– Castries South East
Senator Guibion Ferdinand– Micoud South
Emma Hippolyte- Soufriere
Wayne Girard- Anse La Raye/Canaries
Alfred Prospere– Dennery South
Virginia Albert-Poyotte– Babonneau
Kenson Casimir- Gros Islet
Dr. Pauline Antoine-Prospere– Choiseul
The SLP’s political leader has promised that candidates will be endorsed for Castries North, Castries Central and Micoud North “very soon.”
